If you leave, I will follow
by VictoriaBard
Summary: Mac gets sick and to get better she goes on a trip to see Chloe.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG" I'm just borrowing them for the story.  
  
Title: If you leave - I will follow  
  
Chapter one  
  
JAG headquarters Falls Church, Virginia 1000 ZULU May 5th  
  
Admiral Chegwidden was pacing back and forth inside his office. This was the second time this week that Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie was late for a morning briefing. Well, actually it was ten o'clock and there was still no sign of her. And she wasn't a little late either, not five or ten minutes but a whole half an hour late which was according to A.J. unacceptable.  
  
Commander Harmon Rabb on the other hand was there, sitting in a comfortable chair. He could feel the tension increase when the clock turned from ten thirty to ten thirty-one.  
  
"She was supposed to be here thirty-one minutes ago, Mr Rabb"  
  
"Yes sir. Maybe she's stuck in traffic and isn't able to call." He tried. But he knew he couldn't get his friend out of this one. There was a knock on the door and Mac entered and came to attention in front of her commanding officer.  
  
"Good morning Sir, Commander." She said and waited for her the Admiral to ask her to take a seat. A.J. looked at her with eyes cold as ice. She really looked terrible, circles under her eyes and looked like she had just gotten out of bed.  
  
"Is something wrong, sir?" she asked, confused. Okay she was fifty seconds late but that had happened before. It wasn't like him to get this upset, at least not with her.  
  
A.J. took a deep breath and folded his arms. He thought the Colonel had a terrible attitude today. She didn't even bother to apologize for being late and now she had the nerve to ask if something was wrong.  
  
"Is something wrong?! What kind of question is that? You're more than half an hour late today, Colonel. Yesterday it was ten and the other day five. What have you got to say for yourself?" His eyes didn't leave her for a second, but she barely noticed how angry he looked. All she could think about was how tired she was. Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy and she felt she was about to yawn.  
  
No, don't yawn.´ she thought. Her desperate attempts not to, turned into a grimace.  
  
A.J. had never thought Mac was capable of this. He felt the anger boil up inside and turned to Harm.  
  
"Commander, would you excuse us a minute?" he glanced at the half standing, half sleeping Mackenzie. "Or perhaps two." He added with irritation.  
  
"Yes, sir." He got up and gave Mac a little push on his way out to wake her up. A.J. waited until the door had been closed behind the Commander and then took his place in front of her again.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!!" he screamed. "Judge Morris was in here today, telling me you had been very absent-minded in court yesterday. You're late for your meetings and last but not least, you're standing here before your commanding officer trying to make fun of the situation by making grimaces...."  
  
"Sir...." she interrupted in an attempt to defend herself. "Don't interrupt me!! Your behaviour is the worst I've seen as JAG, Colonel" "Yes sir!!" she screamed, hoping it would calm the admiral who's face was now as red as a tomato. It had not been her intention to offend him or to be late. She had been so sure that the time set for the briefing was fifteen minutes past ten and had not been aware of how late she was when she entered the room.  
  
She had been working on four cases at the same time for two weeks now and hadn't gotten much sleep at all. There were two reasons why she had taken on more than she could handle. One of them was that Harm had gotten the flue and been given orders to stay at home for at least five days to rest. Mac had then been forced to take care of his cases as well since everyone else were to busy.  
  
The other reason was that she lately had been thinking a lot about her and Harm's "relationship". She had also had Mic on her mind and the only way to stop thinking of them was to bury herself in work. The night before she had stayed up until four o'clock, doing paper-wok, determined not to fall asleep. She had drunk ten cups of black coffee and was on her third sandwich when she finally leaned her head back and fell asleep, sitting on a chair in the kitchen.  
  
Mac's thoughts were interrupted by AJ:s voice. "Are you even aware that I'm talking to you?!!" he bellowed, but lowered his voice a bit when he saw how exhausted she looked. "Colonel, are you sick?" he asked and saw how she got even paler than before. A.J. grabbed her and lowered her carefully to the floor just before she fainted. He felt how the guilt and fear took over.  
  
What have I done?´ he thought. I should have seen she wasn't feeling well and allowed her to sit down.´  
  
"Mac! Mac? Can you hear me?" he asked and gently shook her to wake her up. She mumbled something he couldn't understand and moved a little. If he didn't know any better he'd swear she had not fainted but fallen into some sort of deep sleep.  
  
There was another knock on the door and Tiner entered. He looked around the room and spotted the Admiral sitting on the floor next to Mac's lifeless body. He ran over to see what happened. The Admiral got to his feet fast.  
  
"Oh my god! Sir, what happened?" he asked. A.J. reached for the phone on the desk and was about to call for an ambulance when Mac opened her eyes and mumbled:  
  
"Sir, I apologize for everything. I........" "Just take it easy and rest, Colonel and I'll call for an ambulance. Tiner!"  
  
"Yes, Admiral."  
  
"Get some water for Colonel Mackenzie." He started dialling the number.  
  
"You don't have to call Admiral." She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to get up. "I'm fine now." She felt the dizziness return. "Sort off." She corrected herself.  
  
He put the phone down again. "Okay, you seem to be feeling better so perhaps an ambulance won't be necessary. I'll ask Rabb to drive you to the hospital." Mac could see he was still concerned.  
  
"I really don't need....." "That's an order." She sighed but obeyed. A.J. helped her up and then left to find Harm. Mac had hoped someone else but Harm could take her there. She didn't like it when he saw her sick or injured. They almost always ended up in a serious conversation with lots of emotions then. Only this time they weren't alone in a forest and neither one of them had a gunshot wound in the leg.  
  
"Are you ready?" she jumped. She hadn't heard Harm come in. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"That's ok, you didn't. I must have dozed off again." She yawned. "I didn't think Marines were afraid of anything." He teased and received a warning stare as an answer. "How are you feeling? The Admiral told me what happened." "Oh, I'm fine now. I don't need to go to the hospital."  
  
"Oh no, don't even try it. You're going, that was a direct order you got." He tried to look mad and determined but she knew he was kidding. And she was right. Soon that special smile appeared that she loved so much." Can you walk or do you need me to carry you?"  
  
"Very funny, Commander. You know you should think about resigning as a lawyer and start a career as a comedian instead."  
  
A little while later they were on their way. Harm looked at Mac who was sitting beside him, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping. She was even more beautiful when she was sleeping, looked so peaceful. He turned left and parked the car outside the hospital. Then he gently touched her shoulder to wake her up.  
  
"Hey, sleeping-beauty, wake up." He whispered softly in her ear. She blinked a few times. "What did you just call me?" she asked surprised. Harm gave her an embarrassed smile.  
  
"Uhm.....nothing, nothing at all." He said. It had been meant as a joke but now he regretted it. Mac eyed him suspiciously. "Really" he assured her. "Shall we go inside?" Suddenly he saw something in her eyes that wasn't there very often. Fear. He didn't like to ask but felt it was needed.  
  
"Mac...."he started. "Are you afraid of hospitals?" he managed to ask. He saw how she began to frown. Uh oh, here we go.´ he thought. But instead of dropping some smart comment she forced the anger back. She had never admitted it to anyone, not even Harm. He was right, she didn't like hospitals. The smell, the sounds and the feeling that she was surrounded by death always made her feel sick and depressed. But how could she explain that to Harmon Rabb , her best friend. Come on, Marine. Just say it´ she thought.  
  
"Well, I can't deny it. Yes I am afraid of hospitals." She admitted and studied her nails.  
  
"So that's why you didn't want to go here and be examined. How come you've never mentioned this before.?" He asked but when he saw how uncomfortable she looked he hurried to say "Of course you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Take as much time you need." He took her hand and squeezed it.  
  
"Thanks Harm." She let out a breath and smiled at him. "But if you ever tell anyone about this.........your body will be found buried in my backyard." She said with humour in her voice and threw a punch at his head in slow motion. He ducked.  
  
"You don't have a backyard, Mac" he teased "And I'm not suicidal. I won't tell anyone."  
  
To be continued 


	2. Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG" and I never will, I'm just borrowing them.  
  
If you leave - I will follow  
  
Harm looked out the window at the people who passed the street down there. He wondered what their lives looked like. The short man, wearing a black suit, walking down the street was probably the father of two kids, lived in a house with a small garden and perhaps he worked in an office somewhere near his home.  
  
He probably didn't have a care in the world. Ok, most people had some kind of problem to deal with, but most people didn't have to drive their snoring colleague to the hospital. Not that he minded. It was just that every time he got near Mac these days he got that familiar feeling in his stomach.  
  
It wasn't always like that, in the beginning they had actually been just friends but now it had developed into something more. He knew she felt something for him too, but maybe not the same way he felt about her.  
  
He wanted so much to tell her exactly how he felt, but he wasn't about to jeopardize their friendship. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the nurse enter the room.  
  
" Commander Rabb!" harm jumped at the sound of her voice and turned around.  
  
"Colonel Mackenzie is going to be just fine. She's got a fever and is very tired. Dr Johnson said she had been working too much, sir."  
  
Harm thought of the previous week. Mac had handled all his cases and her own while he was home in bed. And she had been working day and night for the past month.  
  
"Can I see her?" he asked.  
  
"She's on her way out." The nurse excused herself and left him alone again. A ringing sound came from inside his pocket. He hurried to take out his cell phone and answer it.  
  
"Rabb."  
  
"Commander, this is Admiral Chegwidden. How's Mac?" he asked just as Mac walked in, ready to leave. "She's ........uhm." he looked at Mac who signalled that she felt ok. "She's doing okay, sir. A light fewer and the doctor said she has been working too much lately." As soon as he'd said it he regretted it. He regretted it even more when he saw the look on her face.  
  
Mac's apartment:  
  
Mac hadn't said a word on the way from the hospital to her place. She was sooo angry. If she had had the energy she would have walked home rather than have Harm drive her. How could he tell Chegwidden she had been working too much? Because of him she had been ordered to take two weeks vacation to rest. Now she would be forced to find something to keep busy with or she would go insane. Harm knew Mac was pissed off. She avoided looking at him and when she did she gave him looks that sent shivers down his neck.  
  
Mac took out her keys and unlocked the front door to her apartment. She entered and Harm followed and closed the door behind them. He didn't feel the need to wait for an invitation since it wasn't very likely he was gonna get one today.  
  
Mac entered the kitchen and started unpacking some food she had bought. Harm had insisted they'd stop by the supermarket on the way since Mac had been told to stay inside as much as possible the next few days.  
  
Harm entered the kitchen. "You could let me help you with that. You're supposed to be resting, Mac." She slowly turned around to look at him "Now take it easy, I didn't mean...."  
  
"Don't you think I'm capable of unpacking my own stuff or talking to my commanding officer by myself, Commander?"  
  
The fact that she called him by title was a clear sign of irritation. She began to walk towards him in a threatening way. She was about to raise her voice and start yelling but instead a strange sound came out of her mouth. She brought a hand to her throat and then quickly covered her mouth as she felt she was about to sneeze.  
  
Harm gave her a look full of sympathy.  
  
"Don't start.......atjoo!!"  
  
"You should be in bed relaxing. You have a fewer and a cold. Now let me take care of this and go get some rest."  
  
She would have protested but didn't have the strength. Harm unpacked everything and put it in it's right place.......he hoped. Then he called the Admiral.  
  
"Chegwidden"  
  
"Sir, it's Commander Rabb. I'm calling to ask for the rest of the day off. I'm going to stay with Colonel Mackenzie if that's alright with you, sir?"  
  
A.J. hesitated. If Harm really believed Mac needed someone to stay with her then of course he couldn't say no. But he had two big cases that couldn't wait and needed one of his best lawyers at the hospital right now. Well, Commander Turner could probably handle one of them and then he would have to find someone else who could take the other one.  
  
"If she's sick then it's alright I suppose. But I need you here tomorrow morning. Do your best to take care of Mac tonight and be here at 7:00 am in the morning.  
  
"Yes sir. Thank you."  
  
"And don't be late!"  
  
"Of course not, sir." He hung up and left for Mac's bedroom. He knocked on the door before entering.  
  
"Come in!"  
  
He opened the door and saw Mac who lay in bed, looking exhausted.  
  
"How are you feeling?" he asked. She sat up and blew her nose loudly. "Do you need anything?" she snuffled and lay back again.  
  
"No thanks. I'm fine. You'd better leave before you catch what I have."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere. The Admiral gave me the rest of the day off to stay here and take care of you." He knew an objection was on it's way. "The faster you get better the sooner you can get back to work." He sat down next to her on the bed and put a hand on her forehead. "I'm gonna go get you some water, you should drink a lot.......water I mean." He left the room, not offering her a chance to say anything.  
  
In the kitchen he poured a glass of water. He suspected he himself had given her the flu, but he kept those thoughts to himself. On his way back to the bedroom he grabbed an extra pillow to make it a little more comfortable for her to sit up.  
  
"Here you go, drink up."  
  
She gave him a Give it a rest´ stare.  
  
"Harm you don't have to stay, I'll be fine by myself, really."  
  
He looked at the woman sitting before him. Her face was red because of the fever and her voice sounded very hoarse. He had already asked for leave so he might as well stay.  
  
"I'm staying." He simply said.  
  
"Harm, I'm sorry for getting so upset when you told the Admiral I was sick. Even if you hadn't I wouldn't have been able to work anyway." She confessed.  
  
Harm was surprised she apologized, he had not expected her to.  
  
"It's probably me who should apologize." He said "I should have let you tell him yourself."  
  
Their eyes met and they shared one o their moments of understanding towards each other. Neither one of them wanted to break it but finally Mac took control and looked away.  
  
"I guess I should be grateful you didn't tell him the reason I didn't want to go to the hospital in the first place." She laughed.  
  
"Well, the day isn't over yet." He punched her on the arm and hurried to exit the room before she could repay it.  
  
"If you need anything just yell!!" he called from the other room.  
  
To be continued 


	3. Where did you sleep?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.  
  
Harm took out some potatoes and carrots from the refrigerator. He planned to make a healthy, warm vegetable soup. He knew Mac probably wouldn't want to eat something that healthy and without any meat in it but he couldn't bring himself to go out and buy a hamburger so she would have to settle for this.  
  
Half an hour later, it was done. He put two plates with soup, a glass of milk for Mac and a soda for himself. Mac was asleep when he entered her bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed. Mac opened her eyes and mumbled something about not being hungry and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
"Mac, you have to eat something to get better." He tried. She sighed and sat up. When she discovered what was on the plates she sighed again and stared at her a little too helpful friend. But what did she really have to complain about? He cared enough to stay with her when she was sick. Her head felt like it was about to explode any minute and she was freezing. She had hoped some sleep would make her feel better but she had obviously been wrong, the room was still spinning when she sat.  
  
Harm stayed with her all night. After dinner she gave him some blankets and a pillow so he could spend the night on the couch. They both went to bed early since Mac was tired and Harm was getting up early the next morning to go to the office. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't go to sleep. Being in Mac's apartment wasn't easy without memories about everything they had been through since that day they met in the rose garden coming back.  
  
"At least she's asleep." He thought and listened to the snoring coming from the next room. Suddenly they stopped. He opened his eyes as he heard footsteps getting closer.  
  
"Can't sleep either?" he asked Mac who was now standing in the door.  
  
"I just woke up." She said as if he didn't already know that. He sat up and she joined him on the couch. The embarrassing silence between them made her turn on the TV. Harm snatched the remote control from her and began looking for something good to watch. Mac who never liked to zap between channels snatched it back and decided on a Western movie.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked surprised and tried to take it back. She held it out of his reach and smiled sweetly. Harm soon gave up the fight with a sigh.  
  
"I can see you're feeling better, Colonel."  
  
When she didn't answer he turned his head, only to find a sleeping Mac, mouth wide open and snoring.  
  
Mac's apartment, the next morning  
  
Harm changed position and felt a throbbing pain in his neck. He was in an almost impossible position and he was trapped under something heavy. He opened his eyes and saw Mac, laying on him with her head resting on his chest.  
  
If I had a camera I'd use it right now.´  
  
Now all he had to do was sit up as carefully as possible, without waking. If she woke up this would quickly become a very embarrassing situation. He slowly lifted her head and placed it on the pillow. Then he pulled his legs out from beneath her and got up. As quietly as he could he walked to the door.  
  
Just one more step and I'm safe.´ he thought but then a creaking sound was heard, caused by him.  
  
Mac became aware of where she was. She couldn't recall the last time she had slept so well.  
  
Harm silently cursed himself as he turned. "Good morning. Did you sleep okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I slept great actually. Sorry I fell asleep here. I didn't think I would." She said and felt a little guilty. "Did you take my bed after I fell asleep?".  
  
"Uhm......right. "  
  
Mac glanced at her watch, half past eight. "That must have been a short briefing" She got up and walked into the bathroom to freshen up before breakfast.  
  
Harm took out the ingredients for pancakes so he could make them something to eat. "What do you mean?" he asked confused by her comment. Then it hit him and he dropped the eggs in horror.  
  
"The office, The Admiral!"  
  
Mac entered the kitchen. "Harm!" she yelled in an accusing tone when she saw the mess he'd just made on her floor.  
  
"I'm late." He mumbled and looked like he wasn't sure where to go. Mac attempted to calm him.  
  
"I'm sure he'll understand, just tell him the truth."  
  
"Tell him the truth?! Are you crazy?!" he grabbed some tissues and started cleaning the floor with them.  
  
"Harm, let me do that and go." She pointed toward the door. She figured the floor would probably be cleaner if she did it than if he stayed to help right now.  
  
"Okay, I'll call you later to see how you're feeling" he started to leave but turned around. "On second thought, maybe you should call to see how I'm doing."  
  
Mac gave him a confused look.  
  
"I mean to check so I'm not in the hospital with two broken legs or something."  
  
To be continued 


	4. The phone call

Title: If you leave, I will follow

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

Mac's apartment

Time passed by slowly. Only a couple of hours had passed since Harm left. Mac felt much better today, the fewer and cough had disappeared and all that was left was a very sore throat.

She had tried to make time go by faster by cleaning up Harm's mess in the kitchen and cleaning the rest of the apartment. She had read two books and made lunch and now she was running out of ideas. What was she supposed to do all week when she couldn't work?

Almost like a sign sent from heaven, the phone rang.

"Mackenzie!"

"Mac, it's me, Chloe. How are you? Your voice sounds a little strange."

"Chloe, hi. No I'm fine, I've just had a fewer and a cold. It's so nice to hear your voice, I was just searching for something to keep busy with. Why aren't you in school? You're not sick are you?" she asked worriedly. Chloe was one of the most important people in her life and she couldn't help worrying about her now and then.

"No. School was out a little earlier today that's all."

Mac noticed her normally happy 'little sister' sounded a bit down. She could hear her sniffle and inhale.

"Chloe? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She answered in a shaky little voice.

"Did something happen at home...or at school?" she waited patiently for the girl to answer.

"You can talk to me, Chloe."

"Alright. Last week Ms Miller, that's my new teacher, gave us an assignment to do. We were supposed to write a paper about our parents. What they do for a living, their interests, you know that sort of stuff. At recess all the other kids talked about their parents and what they were going to write. Henry came over to me and started teasing, he said I didn't have any parents"

Mac felt the anger boil up inside her. "You do have parents, Chloe. You have your father and your grandmother." She wanted to say more to comfort her friend but couldn't find the words.

"But no mom, and she's an important part of a girl's life, Mac"

"That's true, but you've got me. I...."

"That's exactly what I said. I told him I was going to write about you, dad and grandma. I told everyone you were a Colonel, but no one believed me." She said and sounded disappointed. "They thought I was making it all up."

"Well, you shouldn't really pay any attention to what they say but maybe you could show them a picture of me." She suggested. "Then they'll have to believe you, it's evidence"

Chloe giggled. "This isn't a court martial, Mac. What people don't want to believe, they don't believe. At least not kids."

Mac wasn't sure what to answer to that. She wasn't exactly experienced with kids. Chloe and baby A.J were the only kids she'd spent time with regularly these last few years.

"Mac, I didn't just call you to tell you about this. I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"There is this special day at school this week. It's a day when all the kids' parents visit us in school. That's when we'll be reading our papers out loud to the entire class and the parents." Mac had a feeling she knew where this was going. "I want you to come and be with me in school on that day."

Mac felt honoured that Chloe would ask her to do something like this but at the same time she was terrified. She had no idea how to act around parents and kids and she was afraid she'd ruin things for Chloe if she came.

"Chloe I don't know if I'm the right person for you to ask. I think you'd be better off asking your father to go with you." She finished and waited for her reaction.

"I already asked him and he said he really wanted to come but he couldn't. He had something really important he had to do at work. I guess I could ask grandma, but it's not the same. And it would be a much better way to prove your existence than to show a photo, right?"

Mac knew she was now trapped, there was no way out of this, except to tell a lie. To tell Chloe she had to work too, but she couldn't do that to her.

Hey, it's not like I have something better to do the next few days anyway.´ she thought.

"Alright, I'll be there. I'm off all week and I have nothing else to do." She said.

"Great! Thank you so much, Mac. There is just one more thing."

"And what's that?" she asked suspiciously.

"My grandma is going away this Tuesday and she isn't coming back until Sunday evening. She's going to visit some old friends that she hasn't seen for five years. She wanted me to ask you to come and stay with me while she's away."

This doesn't sound so bad.´ Mac figured.

"There is just one problem" Chloe continued. "You know my birthday was last week"

"Yes of course I know, sweetie. I sent you a gift."

"Yeah and I loved it, you know that. I'm having a party the day before the parents are coming to school. Or at least I was before grandma decided she had to go away."

Mac felt sorry for her "little sister", she knew how much she had been looking forward to the party with her friends coming over to her house and spending the night there.

"If I have to cancel, then all my friends will hate me. Could you help me with the party Mac? That way I can still have the party." She nervously waited for Mac's answer.

1720 ZULU

Mac's apartment

Harm opened the door and was careful not to slam it just in case Mac was sleeping. Mac was packing a bag when he entered her bedroom.

"Going somewhere?" he asked surprised to find her packing for a journey. She looked up

"Hello yourself. I can see you're still alive." She laughed. "I talked to Chloe a little while ago. Parents are coming to visit their kids at her school this Friday and she wants me there, I'll spend this little vacation there with her."

"When are you leaving?" he asked as he approached her.

"Tomorrow."

"Are you well enough to travel so soon?" she nodded and went back to packing. Harm noticed her uniform on top.

"What do you need that for?" he pointed a finger at the uniform. Mac grinned from ear to ear and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

To be continued


	5. Angry

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

The airport:

Mac stood leaning against the cold wall outside the airport. She was soaked and the rain was pouring down. She was dressed in a beige coat, black skirt and a pair of black shoes.

Her plane had arrived early so she had spent the first half an hour in a café and then gone outside to meet Chloe and her grandmother who were supposed to be there by then to pick her up. She had been standing in the rain waiting for twenty minutes and fifty-six seconds now and she couldn't remember the last time she had been this wet.

This can't be good for my health.´ she thought. I could go back to the café but then I might miss them. They'll be here any time now´ she told herself. And she was right too, the next thing she knew a car pulled over and stopped in front of her. A door opened and Chloe poked her head out.

"Mac!!" she yelled and waved. Mac waved back, grabbed her bag and ran to the car. Chloe took her bag and put it in the trunk. When she got back in the car she received a big hug from her "big sister".

"I'm so sorry we're late, Sarah. There had been an accident on the road so we had to drive around to get here."

Chloe handed Mac a towel so she could dry off. "It's alright, you have nothing to apologize for, it happens to us all, I should know." She laughed. Chloe chatted all the way about all that had happened since they last saw each other. Mac looked out the window at the passing people out there and remembered back to the first time she had met Chloe. She was so little then and they had spent so much time together. But since she found Chloe's father they hadn't gotten to see that much of each other. She was hoping to make up for some of that time during this visit.

Mac exited the car with Mrs Madison and Chloe and the three of them entered the house. Mrs Madison offered Mac a seat at the kitchen table which had been set.

"Chloe has told me how much you like hamburgers so that's what we're having."

"It sounds great." She placed her napkin in her lap and gazed around the kitchen they were in. It wasn't very big, but cosy and just being in it made her feel right at home. She hadn't seen the rest of the house yet but was certain it was just as nice as this room.

During dinner Mac told them about some of the cases she had been working on lately, but Chloe soon took over and they spent the rest of dinner discussing her horse whom she knew Mac was gonna love as soon as she got to know him. When they were finished Mrs Madison insisted on doing all the dishes herself.

"You are here to rest, dear. Not to assist me. Chloe" she turned to her granddaughter. "Would you take Sarah with you upstairs and show her the room she'll be staying in."

"Sure." She said and led the way upstairs into a corridor with three rooms on both sides. The walls were covered with photographs of Chloe. There was Chloe riding her horse, playing with her friends and swimming in a lake with her father in the summer.

Chloe opened the first door and entered the room with Mac following.

"This is my room." She said with pride. It was a cute room painted blue and white. A couple of stuffed animals were sitting on the bed and she had a desk in the corner. "I cleaned it yesterday because you were coming." She looked at Mac with a worried expression. "Do you like it?"

"It's the best room I've ever been in." She said with an encouraging smile. She walked over to the window and looked out. The sun was settling and she could see the beautiful rose bushes growing by the gate, she knew they were very important to Chloe's grandmother.

This was just the kind of place she had dreamed of as a child. It was perfect and she was so glad Chloe got to grow up here.

"Mac, come on let's go to your room."

"Yeah, sure."

On the way there Chloe opened the doors and showed her three more rooms. One was a guest room, the other was her grandmother's and the third was empty with no furniture. Chloe had obviously decorated her room. Posters of horses on the walls, the picture of herself and Harm that the girl had taken the last time she visited her "big sister", had been placed on a small table by the bed. That bothered her a bit, was Chloe still hoping for her and Harm to become a couple?

Mac started unpacking, putting the clothes in the closet. Chloe sat down on the bed.

"Mac?"

"Yeah"

"Are you nervous about Friday?" she asked. "You really don't have to be, everyone is going to love you." She spotted Mac's uniform as she took it out of the bag. "Oh, you brought that, good. I forgot to tell you that all the parents have to dress like they do at work."

"That's what I thought, and yeah, I am a little nervous. But it will go away." She said and tried to sound more confidant than she felt. She was happy she would be in uniform, it always made her feel safer and more confidant, something she was sure she'd need.

When Mac felt she was finished they both joined Mrs Madison in the living-room for a game of cards. It didn't take long before Chloe became bored with what they were doing and turned on the TV.

"I've seen this movie before." She replayed.

"Oh, what's it about?" Mac asked, she had a feeling she had seen it too.

"Uhm...it starts with a man who bumps into his ex girlfriend who left him for another guy. He takes out a knife and kills her..." she got no further with her story because her grandmother interrupted by taking the remote control and quickly switched to something else

"That doesn't sound like a movie appropriate for children to watch." She frowned. "Where did you see it?"

Chloe understood she had just gotten herself in a lot of trouble. "I..." she started and bit her bottom lip. "We saw it in school" she lied. "It's true. Our teacher wanted us to get some experience with...uhm...movies that..."

"It was at that last sleep over at Marie's house, wasn't it?" her now very upset grandmother asked.

"They get to watch what ever they want at these parties?" Mac asked in an attempt to save her "little sister" from her grandmother's penetrating glare.

"No, the kids' parents are supposed to supervise and make sure they only watch movies approved by us." She sighed. "But some obviously don't think that's very important and let them see what they want to."

Mac nodded in understanding.

"We haven't had time to rent the movies yet and tomorrow there isn't enough time either, so I was kind of hoping you could take Chloe there and rent a few. Unless it's a problem for you."

"It's fine, I am here to spend time with Chloe. What time do you leave tomorrow?"

"Eleven o'clock." She answered "Just make sure the movie doesn't include lots of violence." She moved closer to Chloe and put an arm around her shoulders. But she didn't notice the anger in her eyes and the way she frowned at her grandmother's comments. Suddenly she got to her feet, put her hands on her hips and stared at the old lady.

"I'm an adult now. You ruin everything!!" With that said she ran upstairs and to her room. They could hear her slam the door. Mrs Madison looked at Mac with sad eyes.

"I don't know what's gotten in to her lately. The slightest thing upsets her. You know her well, Sarah. What do you think is the problem?"

Mac put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The only explanation I can think of is that she is a teenager. She probably sees herself as much older than we do. I'll talk to her if you want me to." She offered.

"I'm so glad you're here." The older woman said with a grateful smile. "By the way, is there anything else you need for the party? I don't know what food you've planned, but you can take whatever you need from the kitchen and we'll pay for any thing else that you might need from the super-market."

Mac nodded. She had a lot to do tomorrow but she was looking forward to it. "I'll take Chloe with me to the super-market tomorrow and get...what ever she wants for the party."

"That is if you can get her to come out of her room." She tried to make it sound like a joke, but Mac could see that she was really worried about her grandchild.

To be continued


	6. Morning

Title: If you leave, I will follow

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story so don't sue me.

Chloe buried her face in the soft pillow and allowed her tears to come. How could she do this? She had every right in the world to see what ever movie she wanted.

It was moments like this she missed her parents the most. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She didn't have to raise her head to know who it was that entered.

She felt how that someone sat down on the bed and then tapped her on the shoulder. But she didn't feel like talking to anyone. Mac didn't stop trying to get her attention. Chloe rolled over and lay on her back. The girl's face was read with tears.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." She said stubbornly.

"I think you hurt your grandmother's feelings down there. She's a nice lady and she cares about you."

Chloe wiped the tears away with her sleeve. "I know she does. But she treats me like an eight year old. Every time I have a friend over she does something embarrassing." She sighed deeply. "I'm so glad it's you who's taking care of the party and not her. She would have turned it into a funeral." Mac laughed at the girl's comment. "It's true. If it was up to her we'd all be playing silly games all night long."

"And what do you want to do instead?" Mac asked. Chloe smiled a little embarrassed and played with a lock of her long hair. "Any way, you and I are going shopping for the party tomorrow, I was thinking maybe we could do it in the morning before your grandmother leaves"

"Alright. Are we getting the movie then too?"

"Sure, but you heard your grandmother, nothing to violent." She said in a determined voice.

"Fine, fine."

Mac put a hand on her little sister's shoulder. "You know, Chloe. Parents and grandmothers some times have a hard time to keep up with how fast their kids grow up. I think if you give your grandmother some time, she'll realize you are older than she thinks. But only if you act like an adult and not hide in your room every time things get hard."

"Maybe I'll try that." She said and sat up next to Mac. She put an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"It's late and we have a lot to do in the morning. It's bed time for both of us." Mac said. Chloe sighed but gave her "big sister" a hug and left to change into nightgown.

0800 ZULU

Mac had been laying awake in bed for half an hour now, just thinking. Six months had passed since Mic had left her. They hadn't spoken since and she felt terribly guilty about what had happened. If she hadn't gone to Harm then maybe he would have stayed. But she wasn't sure that was what she wanted either. Maybe there was truth in what he'd said, or maybe she had wanted him to leave her.

She often wondered what her life would be like now if they had married. She also spent a lot of time thinking about Harm. She was pretty sure how he felt about her, bur not quite so sure about her own feelings towards him though. He was her best friend, they had been through so much together since they first met in the rose garden that day. But did she want to spend the rest of her life with him? Marry him? Build a family? No, at least not as long as he was still seeing Renee.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She sat up, wide awake in her bed.

"Enter!...uhm...I mean come in."

Chloe entered the room. "Good morning! Were you planning on staying in bed all day? And I thought marines were morning people." She tried to keep a serious face but failed and giggled. Mac grabbed her arm and pulled her down into the bed, tickling her mercilessly. After a while she stopped and let her go.

"Grandma has made breakfast and she's going to be very disappointed if you miss it."

"Well, then we'd better hurry." Mac put on a bathrobe and raced Chloe to the kitchen.

"I won!!" the girl panted and fell to the floor.

"I let you win." She teased and helped her up.

"You two aren't tearing the house down, are you?" Mrs Madison joked. She was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper.

"Of course not." Mac assured her and smiled. "When do you leave?" she asked and joined the older lady at the table.

"In a couple of hours." She answered. "There is some coffee ready for you. I wasn't sure what you drink so I made some tea as well. I'll take a taxi to the airport because you'll need the car while I'm gone."

"Thank you, and I'll take coffee, please."

Chloe wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I've never understood why grownups like coffee, it's disgusting and I'll never drink it."

"Have you ever tried it?" asked Mac.

"Once and I'll never do it again." she said. "What's so funny?" she asked a little hurt as Mac and her grandmother laughed

Mac and Mrs Madison exchanged glances. "We didn't mean to laugh at you, honey. It's just that I said the exact same thing when I was little." She noticed Chloe's reaction to the word "little" and added. "I mean, when I was your age."

After breakfast they went upstairs again and Mac occupied the bathroom for half an hour before she finally let Chloe in.

"Mac! Open the door!!" she demanded. "You're not the only one who needs to freshen up before we go, you know." The doorknob turned and she was let in. Mac was standing in front of the mirror with wet hair, brushing her teeth. Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.

"And people say I take long in here."

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I guess I'm used to having a bathroom to myself. I'll be done in a minute." She smiled at the girl.

"Uhm...Mac?"

"Yeah" she answered with the toothbrush in her mouth.

"How's Harm?" Mac sighed. The question didn't come as a surprise to her. Chloe had been so upset when Mic choose not to merry her. Before he entered the picture she had wanted her to be with Harm and perhaps it was just natural for her to start talking about him again now that Mic was no longer an option. She understood Chloe only wanted her to be happy, and that she wanted to help find the person who could accomplish that.

"Harm?" she turned around and looked at her where she stood in her nightgown and slippers. "You saw him not so long ago."

"You know what I mean. I know he loves you, and that you love him. You can't deny that." She looked at Mac with big innocent eyes.

"Chloe, of course we love each other." The girl stared at her, hopeful. "As friends, nothing more. That's the way it's always been and always will be." She tried to sound very reassuring but deep down it hurt to talk about him. She got the same feeling like the time she'd been standing outside his apartment in the rain right after Mic left for Australia. She had often wondered what might have happened if Renee hadn't been there.

Sure she had wanted them to be more than friends once, but he had made it clear he wasn't interested. But she didn't want to think about that now.

"I've always thought you and Harm are perfect for each other, and I don't mean as friends."

"Chloe Madison!! Now you listen to me. I'm not interested in Harm, we're just friends and that's the way it's going to stay. This discussion is over, understood?" Chloe nodded but she wasn't ready to give up that easily. Harm and Mac were in love, she knew it. Mac turned to the mirror again, convinced she had gotten through to her "little sister" this time.

"How about you? Is there any one special in your life that you want to tell me about?" she asked curious. Chloe blushed. "I see." Mac said and grinned.

"What? I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to, I can tell from looking at you." She took a hairbrush and started brushing Chloe's hair. The girl grimaced.

"Ow, Mac!!" she whined.

"Oh, sorry. My mind was else where."

"You were thinking about Harm, weren't you?"

This time Mac laughed. Chloe was obviously not giving up. "Do you want to have a party here or not?" she teased. "Actually it was food that was on my mind. Food for tomorrow night that is." She said. What did kids Chloe's age like to eat any way? If Harm had been here he would have suggested something vegetarian or really healthy, but she didn't think Chloe's friends would appreciate that very much.

"I'm going to my room now to change, so the bathroom is now yours. But when we go to the store you have to tell me everything about this boy. "she said with a smile as she exited the room.

To be continued


	7. Need to hear your voice

_**Title: If you leave, I will follow**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.**_

"Okay, here we are, the supermarket. So, what do you want?" she asked thinking it would be best to let Chloe tell her what kids usually ate at parties.

Chloe grabbed three bags of chips, and put them in the basket. "Chloe, that's not food." Mac commented and put it back on the shelf. Chloe put it back in the basket again.

"Chloe, we're looking for food, not..."

"You eat this all the time, Mac. And besides that's what people eat at parties. No one cares about the food, it's just there to make the parents happy."

Mac raised her eyebrows and put on a stern look. "That doesn't matter. Your grandmother left me in charge of this...this party so would you please make me look good by helping me figure this food thing out, deal?"

The girl nodded in agreement. "But we need some candy and stuff too, otherwise they're going to think I'm weird or something."

Mac laughed and left it in the basket. "Alright, of course you'll get that too. I don't think your grandmother would disagree." They continued walking down the isle, choosing things Chloe thought her friends were going to like.

"So, your grandmother left thirty minutes ago. I hope you'll be okay alone with me now the next few days." Mac said.

"Sure I will. I mean I'll miss her, but it feels good to be left alone, sort of." They walked on in silence for a minute until Chloe broke it. "Can I call her tonight? I mean, I just want to ask how she's doing over there."

Mac smiled. "Sure. You can call her when ever you want. What do you think about hamburgers and French Fries?"

"Sounds good to me. Then we're all set then, we have everything we need."

"Except the movie."

They paid for the food and exited the supermarket, headed for the video-store. After some times searching Chloe finally found one she liked and Mac didn't think seemed too violent.

Then they went back to the house. Mac turned the key, opened the door and let them in.

She unpacked what they had bought and put it in it's place in the kitchen. Chloe helped for a while and then sat down in the living-room and watched TV. Mac started to prepare lunch for the two of them, meatballs and spaghetti as Chloe had requested.

They ate in front of the TV, watching the news.

Maybe I should call Harm and check so everything is going okay with my cases.´ she thought.

"Mac, is something wrong?" the girl asked and brought her back to reality.

"What? No, I was just thinking about work. I think I better go call the office." She rose and went to the kitchen to make the call.

She dialled the number to Harm's office and waited for him to pick up the phone on his desk.

But it never happened. Maybe he's home working.´ she thought and tried there instead.

"Harm, it's Mac."

"Mac, hi. How's everything with you and Chloe?"

"Everything is great here, we've just finished eating lunch. I'm just calling to see how things are going."

Harm thought it was a little strange to have Mac calling just like that. Didn't she trust him to handle things while she was away?. "Oh, it's fine. Why?"

"Just checking."

A very disturbing silence lasted a few seconds. Harm cleared his throat and took a breath. "How are you feeling then? I mean are you still sick?"

"I'm feeling a lot better. But I'm a little nervous about the whole school thing. I'm afraid I'm going to mess up and say something I shouldn't say. I don't have a clue what it's like being a mother, what if I say something inappropriate?"

"Come on Mac you may not have much experience in being a mother, but you do know what it's like to have a little sister. I've seen you with Chloe and you're responsible and have a real maternal instinct. Just act the same way you always do when you're around her."

Mac let out a deep breath. That was about the sweetest thing he'd ever said to her. His words made her realize how being away from him like this made her miss his company terribly.

"Thanks. It's very nice of you to say so."

"It's nothing, just remember to take it easy too. You're supposed to be on vacation, that's the Admiral's orders." He said in a stern voice.

Mac chuckled. "So what, are you going to tell him if I don't?" she joked.

"Well, maybe I will and maybe I won't. You obviously don't get it's for your own good." He said and grinned from ear to ear as he swore he could actually hear her frown.

"Just you mind your own business Harmon Rabb and everyone will be happy." She could hear Chloe call her name from the living-room. "Listen Harm, I gotta go. But I'll call you again to check on everything the day after tomorrow, okay?"

"Uh, okay sure. But you really don't have to..."

"No, I want to. That will make me relax easily. Talk to you then, bye.

"Bye Mac, tell Chloe I said hi."

They both hung up at the same time. Weird that she feels she has to call me again before she gets back, she won't be gone that long after all.´ he thought. Or perhaps she just wants to talk to me because she misses me as much as I miss her when she's out of town like this.´

**To be continued soon**


	8. A gift

**_Title: If you leave, I will follow_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story._**

Chloe was in her room, rummaging through all kinds of bags with bobby pins and other things for her hair. She had already searched her entire closet for something to wear and now all her things were spread across the room. It was a real mess and she knew it, but was too upset to care. She had nothing to wear at the party, but it was too late to go out shopping for something now, the guests were arriving in two hours.

"Chloe, are you in there?!"

Chloe sighed and opened the door for Mac. "Yeah, come on in."

Mac did so and gasped when she saw the mess her little sister had made in her room. "Chloe! What have you been doing in here? The guests will be here soon and this room is a mess." She stopped yelling when she saw the look of distress written all over the girl's face. "What's going on?"

"I don't have anything to wear. I've checked every piece of clothing I own and either it doesn't fit any more or it's ugly."

Mac started picking up clothes from the floor and placing them on the bed. "You don't have to worry about that. With all the fixing downstairs I totally forgot."

"Forgot what, Mac?"

She smiled at the girl. "Come with me." They both left the room and entered Chloe's grandmother's room. Mac opened the door to the closet and pulled out a trunk, she lifted the lid and took out a beautiful white dress with short sleeves. "Your grandmother told me to give this to you, for the party."

Chloe stared at the dress for a moment. "I recognize it, it belonged to my mother when she was my age. I have a picture of her wearing it on her birthday." She bit her lip to keep herself from crying. Mac tousled her hair and gave her a soft kiss on top of her hair.

"Your grandmother thought you should have it, she said you'd say you had nothing to wear so..."

"I'm surprised she even cared about that, things like what to wear doesn't usually concern her very much. I have to call her and thank her later."

"How about right now, sweetie? I think you two have some things to work out."

Chloe nodded. "On second thought, go clean up the mess in your room first, okay?"

**Two hours later:**

Chloe came running down the stairs and entered the kitchen where Mac stood by the table and caught her stealing a chocolate bar from a bowl.

"Hey!! You can't do that. We haven't even eaten yet and you told me I couldn't touch anything before then." She said with a pout. Mac blushed but started eating it any way.

"Well, I bought the food and the candy. And besides, I'm really hungry and if your guests don't start arriving soon I'm gonna eat..." the doorbell interrupted her and Chloe ran to answer the door.

There stood a blond, blue eyed girl, pretty short. She wore a yellow skirt and a black blouse.

I'm glad Chloe's grandmother isn't here to see the shortness of that little skirt.´ Mac thought.

"Happy Birthday...sort of." She said and gave Chloe a hug.

"Hi Lizzie." She turned to Mac. "Mac, this is Lizzie, she's one of my best friends, and Lizzie this is my big sister Mac."

The girl looked at Mac and seemed surprised. Mac reached out her hand to the girl who kept looking at her in the same strange way. "Hi there. Is something wrong?"

Lizzie snapped out of it quickly and shook her head. "No, no Ma'am. It's just, that I expected you to wear a uniform or something. Chloe has told me that you're a Marine." She said and shook Mac's hand.

"That's right, but I don't have to wear my uniform when I'm not working. You do know that a police officer doesn't usually walk around in his police uniform at home, it's sort of the same thing with me. But I'll be wearing it this Friday in school when I come and visit." She explained.

"Great, I want to see what it looks like. Do you only work with men?" she asked curiously.

Mac laughed at the girl's comment. "No, there are a lot of women both in the Navy and the Marine Corps. I'm definitely not the only one."

Lizzie took her coat and shoes off and put them away. "I wish my mom or dad were in the Navy or the Marine Corps, that would be so cool."

"Well, maybe you'll be a Marine when you grow up." Mac suggested but the girl shook her head and looked disappointed.

"No, I'll never be strong enough."

"You won't know until you try. Chloe why don't you take Lizzie with you upstairs and I'll start preparing the hamburgers and fries so it'll be ready when everyone has arrived."

"Okay, come on Liz." The two girls hurried up the stairs and Mac entered the kitchen. Being here with Chloe made her feel a little like a mother, which was something she wanted to be one day. If she could just find the right guy, someone who knew what he wanted as well as she did. She wasn't sure about what Harm had told her about her maternal instincts was true, she had never thought of herself that way, but she knew that when she had children she would do her very best to be a good mother and not follow in her own mother's footsteps, or her father's.

She turned on the radio and came across a radio channel that played an old Beatles song. She started preparing the food while singing along and dancing around the kitchen. She didn't hear the doorbell ring and the two girls coming down the stairs again. Chloe was wearing her mother's dress and had her hair in a pony-tail. Now she and Lizzie were both standing in the door, watching Mac dancing around the kitchen.

Mac turned and noticed the girls. "Chloe!? What are you doing?" she yelled and felt her face turn red with embarrassment.

Chloe's mouth dropped open "What am _I_ doing? What are _you_ doing?"

"Nothing, I had an itch I couldn't reach that's all. What are you two doing down here? I thought I told you to wait upstairs until the guests arrived."

Chloe arched a brow and Lizzie pretended to cough so Mac wouldn't see she was laughing.

"Mac, they just did." She said rolling her eyes and then turned and ran to the door.

**To be continued**


	9. Petty Officer Thomas Miles

**_Title: If you leave, I will follow_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG" , I'm just borrowing them for the story so please don't sue me._**

Chloe and all her friends were seated in the living-room, occupying the couch and armchairs. Everyone had now arrived and Chloe was busy unwrapping her birthday presents and thanking the person who's present she had opened.

Mac stood in the doorway, watching her, thinking of her own birthdays at that age. They hadn't been a lot of fun at all and usually she avoided talking or even thinking about them.

"Mac look at this! Isn't it great?!" Chloe held up a sweater with long sleeves and little blue flowers inbreeded on it.

Mac nodded "Yeah it sure is, sweetie." She said and glanced at her watch. "So, anyone hungry yet? I've made food for an entire army so you'd better be." She joked.

All the kids got up and followed her into the kitchen where she had put out plates and cutlery on the table next to the food so they could serve themselves.

A little boy with red hair and freckles all over his face pushed past the others in line and grabbed a plate.

Chloe stood beside Mac over by the stove, watching the boy's bad behaviour. "That's Henry." She whispered.

"Who's Henry?"

"That boy who said I had no real family f. You know the one who always teases me and is mean to everybody." Chloe said with disgust.

Mac studied the boy for a minute. He wore a black jacket and a pair of worn jeans and tennis shoes. Chloe had told her that he was very popular with the boys, everyone looked up to him as some sort of a role model, but the girls (except Lizzie who thought he was cute) weren't that fond of him. He used to pull their hair and tease them a lot and according to Chloe that was so immature, something you did when you were nine years old.

"But if you don't like him then why did you invite him to your party?" she asked.

"Well, I couldn't just _not_ invite him, the whole class is here. He would have felt left out if I had." She mumbled.

Mac smiled. She was so proud of her little sister who had grown so much this last two years that she would invite this boy even though he didn't treat her right just so he wouldn't feel left out. "That was very...nice of you. Now go get some food, after that you can eat all the candy you want"

"Thanks Mac."

The evening carried on just like they had planned it. All the kids ate as many hamburgers as they wanted, except for Henry who actually asked for more than he wanted and then dropped the leftovers on the floor, claiming it was an accident. Mac took a deep breath and went to get a mop to clean it up. When she got back to the living-room where the kids were supposed to be watching the movie, she found Chloe and Henry standing next to the "accident" sharing hostile glares.

"What's going on here?" Mac asked in a parental tone.

"Nothing." Said Chloe and broke eye contact with the boy to look at Mac who raised a brow. "I just told Henry to go get a rag or something and clean up his own mess so that you wouldn't have to do it _FOR HIM." _She said trying to maintain some authority in her voice. It wasn't like she wanted to become a Marine, but she didn't want Mac to think she couldn't handle unfair situations by herself.

"It was an accident so I don't think it's fair of you to treat me like I did it on purpose." Henry screamed back at Chloe's face.

Mac raised a hand that meant for both of them to be quiet. "Chloe, that's very nice of you to think of me but Henry says it was an accident and he's our guest now, so I'll clean it up. I don't mind... you just go on with the party."

Chloe was about to object but was silenced by the look on Mac's face, she obviously didn't want anything to ruin the party. The girl nodded and turned to the rest of her guests.

"So, anyone up for a movie?"

Ten minutes later all the kids were seated comfortably watching the movie, some chattering at the same time. Mac was again standing in the door, watching them. After standing there for a while she figured they would be fine by themselves for a few minutes while she went upstairs to watch the news. Everyone seemed to be getting along fine so she caught Chloe's attention and signalled she was going upstairs for a little while. Chloe nodded and Mac climbed the stairs to another room and turned on the TV. The news had just started.

A face she recognized turned up and the name that she had almost forgotten was spoken.

"Petty Officer Thomas Miles escaped from jail in tonight and has not yet been found by the police. He is to be considered armed and dangerous and the police and the Navy both recommend the public not to approach him and for the sake of their own safety please avoid stepping outside after dark."

Mac stared at the TV and couldn't believe what she had just heard. He was out, and it was here, near where she was at that moment. The jail he had been sent to was here, right outside town.

She had never talked to him, only run into him a few times at JAG when he was being court marshalled. Sturgis defended him and Harm prosecuted, and won. Miles was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend; a petty officer second class stationed onboard the Seahawk. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison; obviously he wasn't planning on staying that long.

She glanced out the window and noticed it was getting dark. Parents would probably be calling soon after watching the news and worrying about their children.

She got up and walked downstairs again to check on the kids, not that she expected him to be standing in the living-room with a gun pointed at them but she still felt she had to check.

Chloe got off the couch to speak to Mac who saw the worried expression in her face. "Is something wrong, honey?" she asked.

"I don't know. I talked to Lizzie earlier in my room while we waited for the others to come." Mac nodded for her to go on. "And she told me...in confidence I guess, that she liked Henry, I already knew that but any way… now they are both gone."

Mac looked around the room for the two kids but couldn't spot them any where. Chloe was right, they were gone. "What do you mean? Where did they go?" she asked in distress.

"I think they left to be...you know...alone." Chloe explained. "I don't think their parents are going to be very happy if they do something stupid, if you know what I mean."

Mac agreed with that considering their age but at that point all she could think about was the fact that there was a murderer out there some where and she had no idea where the two kids were. And soon the parents would start calling to talk to their children and make sure they were alright.

Mac took her "little sister's" hands and locked eyes with her. "Chloe, this is important, where do you think they could have gone? Did you hear the door open and close? Or do you think they are inside the house?"

"Maria thought there was someone at the door, that's how I noticed they were gone."

There was not a moment to lose now. Mac hurried to get her coat and shoes so she could go outside and find them. Before she left she turned to Chloe who was standing watching her. "I want you to search through the house while I go outside to look for them, alright? Can you do that for me?"

Chloe nodded in response. "Mac, what's going on? Why are you so upset over them just going outside for a while? I'm sure they'll be back any minute now." She assured her.

Mac considered telling her the truth about what she had just found out but decided it would be best not to worry her.

"Nothing is going on, I just get worried when they go off like this. I'm sorry I'm making you miss a part of the movie."

"That's alright, it's no good any way."

"Keep the door locked while I'm gone."

**_To be continued_**


	10. The accident

_**Title: If you leave, I will follow**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.**_

Mac closed the door behind her and waited until she heard Chloe lock it until she started looking around for the kids. It was dark outside so she didn't think they could have gone into the woods, most kids even teenagers were afraid to go in there in the dark. She decided to check the stables, maybe they had gone in there to look at the two horses, but it was a long shot.

The lights were on in there, but then again, they were always on. Slowly she opened the door, trying not to make any noise. There were two soaking wet jackets, thrown on the floor in front of Chloe's horse Spout in the hay on the floor. Now she knew they were in there, even though she couldn't spot them. She looked up at the loft with the ladder leading to it and saw traces of mud on the ladder.

"Lizzie! Henry! I know you're up there, come on down." She called to them prepared to use her "Marine voice" in a minute if they didn't. "NOW!" she yelled. She saw two heads peeking down at her from the edge, then Henry stood up.

"Maybe we don't feel like it, lady." He said defiantly, showing off for Lizzie.

"It's dangerous up there, come down." She tried but felt it wasn't working with him so she turned to Lizzie who was after all Chloe's best friend. "Lizzie, Chloe wants you in the house with her, it's her birthday party remember."

When she didn't answer Mac gave up the nice tactics since they were obviously wasted on these two tonight. "You come down right now, or I'm coming up to get you and then I'm going to call your parents and tell them to come get you!"

Henry frowned and pointed at her from up there. "Nobody tells me what to do! Especially YOU!" he screamed at her. He saw a pitchfork leaning against the wall five steps away from him and reached for it, then in rage lifted it up in the air and made an attempt to throw it at her from where he stood right at the edge of the loft. Mac got ready to move but it proved to be a little too heavy for him and in horror she watched the boy loose his balance, drop the pitch- fork in the soft hay and with a screech fall down from the loft and hit the ground where she stood.

"Oh my god!" Mac exclaimed as she hurried to get to his side. "Henry! Are you alright?!!"

"Oow, my arm, my arm! It hurts!" he cried, tears streaming down his face. Mac tried to check if everything else was alright but the boy immediately did his best to push her away from him and even tried to punch her in the face once.

"Stop it, stay still or you'll make it worse, Henry!" Mac tried telling him. Finally she got tired of waiting for him to come to his senses and pushed his good arm away and scooped him up in her arms and carried him out of the stables. On her way out she called to Lizzie, "Can you get down from there by yourself?!" the girl shook her head, she was obviously chocked and afraid to climb down on her own now. "Alright I'll be right back for you, just don't move!" She hurried into the house; Chloe opened the door for her and immediately they were surrounded by worried and curious kids who wanted to know what had happened.

"Everybody go sit down in the living-room." Mac said "Give us some room okay? Chloe stay with him while I call for an ambulance, I think his arm is broken." Chloe nodded and sat down next to Henry on the floor while Mac grabbed the phone and made the call.

Then she ran outside again and entered the stables to help Lizzie. She climbed up to the loft and reached out a hand for the girl to take but she wouldn't move.

"Here, take my hand and I'll help you down." She offered but Lizzie just stared at her with an empty look in her blue eyes. Mac managed to lock eyes with her and then took her hand. "Hey, I promise I won't let you fall, I'll even carry you if you want me to, alright?"

Lizzie nodded. "I'm afraid of heights you know, it was Henry's idea to come up here, he said it would be alright. I'm so sorry, I never should have listened" She said and let the tears come. Mac lifted her up and felt how she clung to her and how her shoulder got wet with tears as the girl cried on it, but she didn't care, she had to get back to the house.

Mac did her best to keep the boy comfortable, but he refused to let her move him to the couch or any other place that would be more convenient than the floor, so she just got some pillows and a blanket instead. It took twenty minutes before the ambulance arrived at the drive way. And when it did the paramedics put him in the ambulance and advised Mac to call the boy's parents and let them know where they were taking him so they could be there.

Just as they were about to leave one of them rolled down the window and asked her. "Excuse me Ma'am, are you alone here with all those kids?"

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"Then you really should keep your door locked because of that crazy Petty Officer that escaped tonight. You know about that?"

"Yes, I just heard. Don't worry about it, I'm going to call all the parents and have them come get their kids. Everyone is pretty shaken up so I've got the feeling the party is pretty much over any way." She saw he still looked worried so she added "And don't worry about me and my little sister either, I'm a Marine and hopefully he won't come all the way out here." The man looked both surprised and relieved as he nodded and they drove off in the pouring rain.

Half an hour later Mac had called Henry's parents, and talked to his mother who totally freaked on the phone when she heard what had happened to her little angel. At first she started crying and Mac spent a couple of minutes trying to calm her down and when she had managed to do that the woman started yelling at her instead. Blaming her for not taking proper care of her son while he was at their house. Mac said little, since she also blamed herself for the accident. She should never have left them alone, she should have been more careful. All she felt she could do was ask the woman to please calm down and when that didn't work either she apologized the best she could and hung up on her.

Chloe had just said goodbye to her last guest and closed the door and locked it like she was told. Mac was sitting in the kitchen by the table, drinking some coffee. All the parents had come for their kids and Lizzie's mom had been the last to leave. Mac had explained to her what had happened with her daughter and Henry and expected her to be as angry as his mom, but she took it very well and instead thanked Mac for what she had done. She said that the only person she was angry with was her daughter for leaving like that, and she didn't think Mac had anything to feel guilty about regarding Henry either, especially not after Mac told her about the pitchfork incident.

"Mac? Are you okay?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Lets go to bed."

_**To be continued soon**_


	11. Truth or dare

_**Title: If you leave, I will follow**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG" I'm just borrowing them for the story.**_

Harm was at home, not really doing anything at the moment. He was standing staring out the window, thinking about Mac. Every time she left he got this bad feeling in his gut that she wasn't going to return. He had felt it so many times before, and he had been wrong a number of times. But she had also gotten into trouble while being away and he didn't know why but something was telling him this was one of those times when she needed a friend there with her. He just wished she would call again and check in so he could ask her if everything was alright. He didn't want to call her himself because then she would wonder why he was calling and it would all turn into an extremely embarrassing situation.

Only three hours until he would have to go to work, if only she would call before that. He wanted to have as much privacy as possible when he spoke to her and he wasn't sure he could get that at the office. That place felt so empty without Mac to bump into now and then. At least she wasn't on some dangerous assignment this time, she was safe in a house outside town with Chloe and some kids. What could happen?

**_Madison house:_**

Mac and Chloe were having breakfast together in the kitchen. It was a beautiful morning outside but it didn't match the mood of the Marine sitting at the table trying to eat a sandwich so Chloe wouldn't guess how she was really feeling this morning.

Chloe studied her "big sister". She didn't understand why Mac felt bad about Henry falling down off the loft the evening before, it was his own fault and no one else's…as usual. He was always doing things he weren't supposed to and getting into trouble because of it.

"Do you want some more juice, sweetie?"

Chloe frowned at the question. "No…thanks. What I want is _you_ in a better mood. It wasn't your fault you know. And I'm not mad at you for sending everybody home. I understand that you did it because you thought it was for the best when everybody got so upset and scared."

Mac looked up. "Thank you." She said and got back to her breakfast.

Chloe's mouth dropped open. "_Thank you? _Is that all you're going to say? You're supposed to say something like, "you're right, Chloe. It wasn't my fault, Let's have some fun. today"

Mac sighed. "Well, what do you want to do today? Maybe we can finish watching the movie and then return it." She suggested and immediately realized how stupid and boring that sounded. Chloe gave her a sceptical look. "No? Maybe go see a movie at the cinema then?"

Chloe's face lit up. "Yeah, that sounds like fun. If I get to pick the movie?"

Mac smiled a little. "Alright, that can be arranged. What do you say we go this afternoon after lunch?"

"Okay."

"I think you have some work to do first, am I right?"

Chloe lowered her head, a little disappointed Mac had remembered. "Yes, I still have some writing to do on my paper for Friday." She said with a grimace. "Maybe I can do it when we get back from the cinema." She suggested and wasn't surprised by the answer she got, which was very simple.

"No."

Mac rose and started cleaning the table so she could go upstairs and clean herself up afterwards, she was a mess with big circles under her eyes after all the sleep she hadn't had during the night. She entered the bathroom and turned on the shower.

"Mac! Don't use up all the hot water!" Chloe yelled through the door. "Like you did yesterday" she mumbled to herself when she didn't get an answer right away.

"I won't. I'll just be a minute!"

Mac spent twenty minutes in the bathroom until it was Chloe's turn in there but she didn't complain. When she was done she went into her own room and turned on the radio. She felt she could concentrate much better with it on while she did homework and studied for tests. Her grandmother of course had a completely different opinion on that subject, but Chloe didn't care.

She only had Mac left to write about and that wasn't very hard. She felt like Mac was the one she she knew most interesting stuff about, even more than she knew about her father and grandmother, because she could talk to Mac about stuff she didn't feel comfortable talking to anyone else about. She wrote down everything she could think of and when she was done she looked it over one more time and then put it away.

Chloe and Mac spent the day going through some photo albums with pictures of Chloe that Mac hadn't seen yet, eating some leftover pizza for lunch and then drive into town to catch a movie. They had so much fun that Mac almost forgot her problems.

The passed by quickly and when they got back home from town again it was late because they had decided to have dinner at a restaurant to avoid having to do more cooking.

Chloe lay down in her bed and pulled the covers up to her neck while she waited for Mac to come inside and say goodnight. Mac entered the room wearing her pyjamas and slippers.

"Mac, could you do me a favour?"

"Sure, what is it honey?" she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Could you tell me a story like you used to when I was little?"

Mac smiled at the girl's request. She certainly didn't mind telling her a story again, in fact she had missed doing just that. "Of course I will. What do you want to hear then? One of those stories I told to you when you were little about princesses and witches?"

Chloe grimaced at the idea. It was true that she had loved those stories when she was younger but right now she wanted to hear something a little more realistic and exciting.

"No, I want to hear something I haven't heard before. Tell me something about you, it doesn't necessarily have to be a story. I could just ask questions and you have to answer them." She suggested with a grin.

"Oh you think so huh?" Mac teased and tickled Chloe's bare feet that stuck out from under the covers at the end of the bed. The girl giggled and quickly pulled them out of her reach.

"That's not called a story you know…I think I would chose to call it playing truth or dare. And that is something that I've always hated to do." She said and watched the famous pout appear.

"Pleeease, Mac, please. I'll do what ever you want me to do, I promise." Chloe begged but when she saw it wasn't working she quickly switched to another tactic. "If you don't do it I'll call Harm and tell him…"

Mac leaned closer to the girl's face and put on a dangerous face. "Tell him what, young lady?"

Chloe swallowed hard but did her best not to back down. "I'll tell him you love him and that he's all you ever talked about when we first met!" she exclaimed in delight.

Mac moved even closer to Chloe, took her chin in her hand and locked eyes with her. "Is that right? I wouldn't do that if I were you "little sister", it could prove to be dangerous to your health." She joked. "And besides, that's called lying you know. I'm not in love with Harm and he's not all I ever talked about back then either." She said feeling pretty confident on that last remark until she saw the look in Chloe's eyes.

"Sure Mac, whatever you say."

As Mac realized she might be wrong about that she chose to drop the subject. "Personally I don't believe you have the guts to follow through on that threat, Chloe Madison but out of the goodness of my heart I will play this with you just this once." She said.

"Great! I knew I'd convince you, you're too scared of Harm finding out."

Mac gave her a warning glare. "Don't push it."

Chloe ignored that. "So, what do I want to ask first? What's your favourite food? No, wait! I already know that. What is your deepest secret from your childhood? No wait! I know that too, sorry."

"It's okay but hurry up, you need to get some sleep and so do I to be honest."

"I got it, I got it! What is your favourite memory since you started working at JAG? Except when you and Harm met in the Rose garden of course." She said with an evil smirk.

Mac pretended not to have heard that last remark and thought hard to find an answer to that very good question. She had so many good memories with her friends and colleagues and she felt she couldn't just choose one to call the absolute best one of them all.

"Chloe, there are so many. I have lots of happy memories." She said, trying to buy a little time so she could think of something that didn't involve Harm. But it was almost impossible. He was in all her good memories it seemed.

"Pick one, and make it good."

"Well, I would have to say that the best one is watching Bud and Harriet get married." She said to Chloe's disappointment. She had hoped Mac would tell her something about Harm.

"And that's enough questions for tonight." She said and started to rise when Chloe grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back down.

"Not yet, I have one more, just out of curiosity. What is your worst memory then?"

Mac soon realized that she actually had a lot of those too. "I mean, when were you the most scared?" Chloe kept asking. She knew that Mac had been through a lot since she started working at JAG and Harm had probably been with her most of those times too. This was another smart way to get Mac to bring him up.

"I think I would have to say… when Harm ejected from the tomcat and landed in the ocean that night before my wedding." Mac said without realizing she had just managed to mention him any way. "And then there was the time when Harm and I were chased by poachers in the Appalachians." She continued without thinking.

Chloe smiled broadly. She loved watching Mac talk about Harm like this, her eyes started sparkling and there was a beautiful light shining in them. Just like now.

Tomorrow she was defiantly going to make Mac call Harm.

**_To be continued_**


	12. Calling for help

_**Title: If you leave, I will follow**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.**_

Chloe was standing at the top of the stairs peeking down at Mac who looked much better this morning. She seemed to have lightened up a little too and that was a good sign. Chloe had to make Mac forgive herself as soon as possible. She didn't want her in a bad mood when they were in school Friday.

"Are you going to come down or are you going to stand up there all morning!" she heard Mac call up the stairs. Now how did she know I was up here´

She hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen where Mac was sitting at the table drinking her morning coffee. She greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning."

"How did you know I was up there watching you?"

"I'm a Marine, Chloe. I always know when you're watching me" she joked. "Why _were_ you watching me?" she asked a little suspiciously.

"Um…well, I just wanted to see what kind of mood you were in today before I took the really big risk of coming down here." She lied. The real reason had been that she wanted to wait until Mac was somewhere far away from the phone so she could call Harm and set her new plan in motion. She had been unable to go to sleep last night and then it hit her.

"Uh huh. You want something to eat before you go riding?" Mac asked and put the newspaper she had been reading away. "Never mind, forget I asked you that. You have to eat something before you go riding, that is what I should have said."

"Sure, something small thanks, like a sandwich." Chloe sat down at the table and glanced at the newspaper on it. When she saw the front page she grabbed it and read the headline.

"**Petty Officer Thomas Miles still on the run"**

"Mac, who's this?" she asked and pointed at the picture next to the text. Mac saw Chloe had spotted the picture.

"Oh that. I meant to tell you yesterday but we just got so busy that I forgot." She excused herself.

"So who is he? You know this guy or what?"

Mac sighed and sat down next to Chloe. "This is Petty Officer Miles. He murdered his girlfriend who was also in the Navy. Harm prosecuted at his trial a year ago and he was sentenced to fifteen years behind bars."

Chloe's face turned white and she stared at the paper. "Then he could be here. He could be hiding in town or somewhere in the forest near this house." She said with tremor in her voice.

Mac shook her head determinedly. "No, sweetie. He's probably long gone; I doubt he'd want to stick around here when he could be trying to leave the country or something smarter than that to get away. He doesn't want to be anywhere near a police station right now. Okay?"

"But what if you're wrong? What if he wants revenge against you and comes here?" she kept going and rose to look out the window to see if was there.

"Chloe, I never even spoke to him. I don't know him. He knows Harm and Sturgis but not me." She said, doing her best to calm the girl. But she left a few details out. Like the fact that Miles hadn't been to happy with either Harm or Sturgis when he was sent to prison. And he knew she was a good friend of both of them. But the odds that he would show up there was slim to none.

It took Mac a little while to convince Chloe that the Petty Officer wasn't showing up at her house and get her to eat something but when they were done Mac had promised to watch Chloe riding her horse. They headed out to the stables and saddled up for a ride.

Chloe and Mac spent three hours outside in the sun together and Chloe got to show Mac all the new little tricks she had learned since the last time she visited. Most of them freaked her out since they had her thinking Chloe was going to fall and break her neck.

When they both felt they had had enough of the outdoors for the day they went back to the house again.

"So, tomorrow it is then." Chloe said. "I hope you'll like it."

"Like what?" Mac asked a little absentminded.

"My paper silly. We're going to school tomorrow."

Mac swallowed hard. She had been giving that a lot of thought the last two days and come to the conclusion that maybe she shouldn't go. When she told that to her "little sister" Chloe exploded.

"What? You can't do that! Everybody's parents are will be there!"

"But that's just it, honey. Everybody's parents will be there…including Henry's. I called the hospital today by the way, he just had a broken arm and is going to be fine." She said with relief.

"I don't care if his stupid parents are gonna be there, I still want you there with me. You have to go!" she screamed but soon regretted her tone. "I'm sorry, Mac. I didn't mean to shout at you." She said and lowered her eyes. She took the horse's rains and led him into the stables. Mac followed right behind.

"Alright, okay. If it's really that important to you then I will go. You win" she said trying to stay calm even though she was so nervous about going for a number of reasons that she felt she couldn't breath.

"Good, thank you. And don't worry about Henry's parents, I bet they won't even notice you're there."

Once the horse had been taken care of they both entered the house and collapsed on the couch in the living-room.

"Mac, I'm really hungry."

"Me too, I'll fix us something to eat. What do you want?"

"How about pancakes? You do know how to make pancakes don't you?" she asked even though she knew that was true. She had to make Mac make something that would take a little time so she could make a phone-call. A very special call to a special person.

A few minutes later she picked up the phone on the coffee-table next to where she was sitting on the couch. She had taken a little peak into Mac's bag earlier to spot a certain guy's phone number which she figured was there some where.

"Rabb!" Harm answered. He was at home making dinner and when he heard the familiar voice at the other end he almost dropped the stirring paddle in the soup. "Chloe, is that you?" he asked worried something might be wrong since it was Chloe and not Mac calling him.

"Yeah, it's me, Harm. I'm calling because I really need your help…right now. It's Mac, she's sick again. But she won't go see a doctor and I'm scared. You have to come…please."

_**To be continued**_


	13. A surprise indeed

**Title: If you leave, I will follow**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG" I'm just borrowing them for the story.**

**0320 ZULU**

**Airport**

Harm looked out the window of the airplane that was just about to take off. It had taken him most of the evening to get a hold of the Admiral and get him to let him leave to check on Mac. He had tried to call her but for some strange reason her cell phone was off and the phone was either busy or off the hook at Chloe's house. Maybe she was talking to the hospital or something because Mac was ill. Or it could be that something had happened already and Mac was in bad shape or hurt.

He had booked a ticket on the plane and packed a bag and taken a cab to the airport. And now he was sitting there, worried sick.

The Admiral had been a little concerned about him going to the same town where the Petty Officer had been in when he escaped. He could be looking for some sort of revenge. But Harm had convinced him that he would be okay and that he would be miles away by now. He had no reason to stay there where everyone recognized him and his face was in every newspaper.

"Would you like to order some dinner, Sir?" a voice asked. He turned his head left and saw a airhostess standing there ready to take his order.

"Uhm…no I'm fine thanks. I think I'll just try and get some sleep."

"Alright. Have a nice nap then, Sir." She said with a grin and turned to the man seated on the other side of the isle.

I'll probably be at the house around seven.´ he thought and closed his eyes.

* * *

**Madison house**

**0714 ZULU**

Mac was standing barefoot in the kitchen wearing an apron cooking breakfast for herself and Chloe.

"So, are you nervous?" she asked Chloe who just entered the room already dressed and ready to go.

"A little. But I know everyone will love you so what do I really have to be nervous about?" she shrugged.

"I meant are you nervous about reading your paper to your class and the parents?"

Chloe smiled "No…I don't know…maybe a little. But it's good, the paper I mean, you read it and even you said so."

"Yes honey of course it's good, I loved it. It's just that you look so tensed up, something you wanna tell me?"

She watched Chloe put on her most innocent expression and the sweetest of all miles. "No, no, not a thing. I do have a surprise for you though."

"Oh really? And what might that be?" she asked as her eyebrows went up in surprise.

"You'll see, it should be arriving soon." The minute those words were spoken there was a knock on the front door. Mac gave Chloe a puzzled look and went to answer the door. But what she saw when she opened it was not at all what she had suspected. There stood Harm in uniform, soaked from head to toe holding an umbrella with a big hole in it in his right hand and a suitcase in the other.

"Harm! WHAT are you doing?" she exclaimed in surprise. She was thrilled to see him but she was also annoyed at seeing him standing there in the rain like that. Could he have walked all the way out there from town? "You'll catch your death!" She stopped focusing on his soaked clothes and looked at his face instead. It was filled with fear and worry for some reason she didn't understand. "What's going on here? Did you walk all the way here? Did something happen back home?" she asked.

Harm put his suitcase down on the doorstep with a loud thud. "You're okay…thank God. I thought something was wrong." He stepped closer and gave her a big wet hug.

Mac squirmed out of his hold and grabbed his face to get eye contact. "WHAT are you talking about? Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" she let go of him and turned around to see where her little sister was. She was standing five large steps behind her looking kind of anxious. "Wait, is there something going on here that I should know about? Chloe?"

"Uh, no, or maybe." She tried to explain. This wasn't working out the way she had thought it would and she was beginning to consider her options. In a few seconds she had concluded that a quick escape probably was the safest resort at the moment. "Maybe I should just let the two of you work it out. I'll be in the stables." She tried to move past the tall Marine hoping she would make it to the door but she felt a hand grab the back of her neck.

"You're not going anywhere until I know what's going on. Now, Harm is here with a suitcase and I have a feeling you know something about it." When Chloe didn't answer right away Mac turned to Harm again who had taken off his coat and closed the door behind him.

"I got a call from Chloe last night that you were sick and I had to come out here immediately. So I did." He said and glared at the girl who stood studying her fingernails.

"And so you walked all the way out here from town in the pouring rain!" she frowned.

"Of course not. I got a cab…only he refused to go any longer than the gas station so I had to walk the rest of the way."

"The cab?" Chloe asked trying to lighten the tension in the room with a small joke.

"No, the driver." Harm said in a threatening tone as he continued to glare at her. "Chloe, you told me Mac was sick and that this was some sort of an emergency because she refused to see a doctor. You had me worried sick for nothing?" He asked. "It seems that way."

Chloe started to back step towards the stairs, hoping she could find some security in her locked room. She had only wanted Harm and Mac to see each other so they could realize how much they loved one another. They belonged together, she was sure of that.

"Was this my surprise?"

* * *

**Madison house**

**0743 ZULU**

Harm and Mac had sat down in the kitchen to talk to Chloe about the situation at hand. She had finally explained everything to both of them and Mac had assured Harm that she was perfectly fine, only angry at Chloe for what she had done. Now they would have to explain things to the Admiral who would not be happy.

When she felt she had told them everything they wanted to know Chloe quietly retreated from the kitchen. Harm had been so mad at her for what she had done. She had never seen him angry before, and especially not at her. She figured he was mostly mad because she had made him believe that there was something wrong with Mac. That had terrified him and she could see why now, it had been a foolish thing to do and she regretted it. She entered her room and went to bed.

Left alone in the kitchen were Harm and Mac with two cups of by that time cold coffee in front of them.

Mac looked up and saw that Harm was staring right at her but when he saw that had noticed he looked away and pretended to be looking out the window instead. "So, you came all the way here to check on me?" she said in a quiet voice. "That's really nice of you." She said politely.

Harm sighed not sure whether he did it because he was tired from hardly sleeping anything all night or on the plane, or if it was a sigh of relief.

"I was worried about you. I'm glad you're alright. I'm going to have to call the Admiral and explain things to him. But I don't think he'll be in the office until tonight so I pretty much have the day off now. If you're not doing anything while Chloe is in school then why don't I buy you lunch."

Suddenly a look of chock spread across Mac's face and she flew up from the table knocking her chair over. "Oh God! School! We're supposed to be in school in half an hour. It's that parent thing today." She reminded him.

Harm stood up calmly and pointed out at the car on the drive way. "Okay, you go start the car so we can go and I'll get Chloe." He started up the stirs. "Oh but you might want to change your outfit first."

Mac looked at the way she was dressed in nightgown and apron with rabbits on." We? You're coming with us to school?" Mac asked surprised.

Harm nodded. "Sure, it's not like I have anything better to do today. I'll get her."

**To be continued**


	14. Late arrival

**_Title: If you leave, I will follow_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG" I'm just borrowing them for the story._**

"Chloe? Chloe, are you in there?"

"Yes" came a muffled replay from inside her room.

"Can I come in?" he asked and opened the door. "Chloe, we have to get going."

Chloe sat up in the bed when Harm entered and she wiped away the tears on her face. "Go where?" she asked confused.

"School." He watched her expression go from sad to surprised and then to sad and angry. "I know, we had forgotten about it too. Let's go." Chloe didn't move. "Mac is already in the car waiting." He said to hurry her up.

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and put on a stubborn look. "I'm not going."

"What? Why not?" he asked.

"Just don't feel like it. Would you please get out." She asked politely hoping he would do as she asked.

"What? No, I won't get out. We have to talk about this." He approached her and sat down on the bed . "I think maybe you're a little upset that I got so angry with you for causing this…this prank." Chloe refused to meet his stare and kept studying her fingernails. "Chloe, you have to understand that you scared me and because you did that I reacted a little strong."

Chloe broke into silent tears that made Harm feel so guilty he almost cried himself. "I only did it because I thought you two needed to spend some time together away from JAG. Then you would realize that you love each other." She whispered. It had sounded much better in her head.

"But of course we love each other, honey." Harm answered calmly. "We always will. Mac is one of my best friends."

Chloe sighed again and a quiet sob escaped from her. "That's not what I mean…I think you know that, Harm"

Harm nodded. "I know." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay, what if I apologize for getting so mad at you and you apologize for scaring me like that. And we'll call it even, alright? And then we can all go to your school and listen to you read your paper."

Chloe thought about the other night and what Mac had told her about people treating her as an adult if she acted more like one and not ran up to her room every time she didn't get her way. She figured this was probably one of those times. She had been looking forward to showing Mac her school and she knew that Mac wouldn't be so nervous about running into Henry's parents if Harm was there too. "You're coming with us?"

"Sure, where else would I want to be?" he grinned at her.

"Okay. I'll start. Sorry I called you and lied about Mac being sick…but I really wanted you to come and…"

"It's alright, I understand that now." He interrupted her. "I'm sorry too. Are we okay?"

She nodded and he wiped away some of the fresh tears on her cheek with his thumb

* * *

_**Twenty five minutes later in the car:**_

"Here it is, turn left and park over there." Chloe pointed to the parking lot next to the big red school building with its big windows and playground in the yard which the younger children seemed to be having a lot of fun playing in.

The officers stepped out of the car and Mac glanced at her watch. "Okay we're a little late so hurry up." She directed her comment to Chloe who yet hadn't gotten out of the car.

The three of them ran towards the building and as soon as they got inside Chloe took the lead and showed the way to the right class room. It was a big school with many corridors and rooms on the way there. The room they were supposed to be in was on the third floor and they could either take the stairs there or the elevator. Since the elevator was already busy they quickly climbed the stairs and when they reached the right place they took a minute to catch their breath and fix their hair and clothes so they would at least look presentable while arriving late.

Just as Mac was about to open the door Chloe grabbed her arm and squeezed it hard to get her attention. "Oh my God, no!" she cried out in panic.

"What's wrong?" Harm asked concerned. Chloe sounded so dramatic as if she had just realized she was naked right there in the corridor.

"I forgot my paper at home, with the notes and everything! I don't have them!" her eyes were as big as saucers as she spoke in horror. "I'm gonna die in there." She stated. "We can't go in now. Let's just go home again and skip the whole thing." She suggested in a desperate attempt to save herself.

Mac put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down a bit and then she spoke. "Take it easy. You rehearsed what you wrote so many times that you probably know it all by heart by now. Just speak from your mind instead, your teacher will be thrilled to see that someone is brave enough to do that." She assured her.

Chloe's shoulders slumped and she looked at Mac with guilty eyes. "I didn't exactly practise it that many times as I said. I was sort of calling Harm and planning…well you know." She said. "Come on, can't we just go home." She begged.

Mac frowned. "Chloe Madison! You disappoint me. Now you worked hard writing that paper and I think you owe it to yourself to read it out loud to the class and the parents. And I think your teacher is expecting nothing less from you either." She said but Chloe didn't look convinced at all. "But of course it's up to you. I can't make you do it of you don't want to. But either way we are going in. NOW."

"Fine, I don't want to do it. So I won't." she stated and opened the door to the class room and entered with Harm and Mac who were exchanging glances not far behind.

The teacher Ms Miller looked up from where she was standing in front of the class reading from the board how the day was going to play out. The room was filled with parents as well as kids who were either standing or sitting listening to the teacher. Everyone turned their heads when the two officers and the little girl entered.

"So sorry we're late," Mac excused them "The car wouldn't start" she made up a little white lie for everyone's' best.

"That's alright, it happens. So you must be…" she took a look at the list she was holding in her hand. "Sarah Mackenzie." She said and Mac confirmed by nodding. "And you're in the Navy?" she asked a little confused.

Harm wanted to laugh out loud at that assumption but he was able to control himself.

Mac gave her a little smile "No Ma'am, actually I'm a Marine."

"What's the big difference?" Mac heard a whisper coming from the front row of chairs. She looked over there and saw a familiar little red haired boy sitting with a man and a woman who probably were his parents.

"Oh I'm sorry, of course you're a Marine. A Colonel if I'm not mistaken." She turned to Harm with a confused expression. "And I take it you're Chloe's father?"

Harm arched a brow and grinned at her newest assumption. "No, my name is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb." he saw the teacher's mouth drop open and quickly added "But you can call me Harm. I'm visiting Chloe at the moment; I arrived this morning so this was sort of a last minute thing. I hope it's alright with you that I'm here"

The teacher waved her hand that it was alright. "Now, the three of you take a seat where ever you can and I'm just going to give all our guests here some information about the day's events."

As soon as she was finished with the instructions she gave some of the children who were up first some tips on what they could do if they were nervous. While she did that the parents walked around the room and spoke to each other and found out what they worked with and which child in the room belonged to them.

Chloe who was certain she wasn't interested in getting up there in front of all those people followed Harm and Mac who looked around at some pictures of the class on fieldtrips to different places. The photos had been put up on the walls so that the parents could look at them.

Chloe was starting to get a pretty good feeling about everything. Unfortunately that was about to change when she saw who Mac had just accidentally bumped into over by the table her teacher had put up with their paintings they had done the previous semester.

Henry's mother didn't look happy as she glared at Mac with ice cold stare that maybe even would make Admiral Chegwidden shudder. At least Chloe thought so.

Harm had also noticed who Mac was talking to, but he decided to offer her some space and not interfere with what ever this was all about. The woman looked very aggressive though, not that he didn't think Mac could handle it.

**_To be continued_**

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

Title: If you leave, I will follow

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

Mac sighed and reached out her hand to the woman standing in front of her glaring.

"Hello" she said but the woman just gave her an angry look and placed her hands at her hips.

"So, you're this Marine Colonel I've heard so much about." She stated and frowned. "We spoke on the phone."

Mac sighed again and retrieved her hand. "Yes, I remember. I tried to tell you how sorry I am about what happened at the birthday party..."

Henry's mother just rolled her eyes at Mac and looked like she wanted to slap her. "Oh please. If you can't take responsibility for your own actions then just be quiet. My son could have died because of you!" she said in a relatively low voice. She stared at Mac for a few seconds with fire in her eyes and then spun around and walked a few paces away. When she passed a table with refreshments on she grabbed a mug of juice and walked back to Mac again. Mac was surprised to see her return, maybe she was going to apologize for what she had said. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and before Mac could react her uniform was soaked with apple juice and the woman had disappeared into the crowd in the room.

Mac exhaled and did her best not to show her anger at that moment. Harm didn't' know about the outcome of the party and she didn't have the time to fill him in now, the kids were about to start reading their papers and all the parents were taking their seats. Mac signalled to Harm to quickly come over.

"Mac, why did she do that?" Harm asked, he had witnessed the whole thing but had not heard the angry words which had been uttered.

"Uhm...never mind that now. I have some jeans and a t-shirt to change into in the car. I'm going to go get it and I'll be right back." She hurried out the door and out to the parking-lot cursing all the way. Why now? It was so disturbing that it had to happen now when she really needed her uniform on for Chloe's sake. She hoped that the kids had already seen enough of her in it and that they now believed Chloe. She grabbed the clothes which were tucked in a paper bag in the back-seat of the car. If there was one thing she had learned it was to always be prepared.

She ran back into the school and up all the stairs again and entered the bathrooms and picked a booth to change in. When she looked presentable she exited the bathrooms and returned to the classroom. Lizzie was on the little stage the teacher had prepared for the kids and talking about her paper and why she had chosen to write as she had.

Mac made her way through the crowd to Harm who had saved her a seat on the front row. He smiled as she sat down on the chair next to him.

"What are you grinning at?" she asked a little annoyed at his amusement.

"Oh nothing, just your choice of outfit for this occasion. You look very relaxed and…"

He didn't get the chance to finish that before he felt a sharp pain in his side caused by Mac's elbow. He let out a loud "Oomph" and some of the other parents turned their heads and glared at him.

"Harm, be quiet and don't call attention to us, please." Mac said with sarcasm.

Harm rolled his eyes and clenched his teeth. "Like you don't in those clothes."

Mac took a good look at herself in the pink t-shirt with a picture of Jingo on it she had had made for Chloe but accidentally ordered her own size so she had kept it for herself instead and promised she would order another one later. Together with the t-shirt she wore a pair of worn blue jeans that she loved but probably didn't fit the occasion.

There were chairs for the children to sit on by the left wall, to the side of the little stage by the teacher's desk. And the parents sat in front of the stage so they could see and take pictures of their children. Of course neither Harm nor Mac had remembered to bring a camera and Mac felt awful about that. She certainly wouldn't make a good parent in the future.

The teacher read all the kids names from a list and when she got to "M" she looked at Chloe who seemed very interested in studying the floor at the moment.

"Chloe Madison, your turn."

Surprising Harm and Mac Chloe got up and took her place on the stage without her paper or notes in her hands and smiled at her audience.

"Hello. I would like to tell you about my family. It's probably quite different from the rest of you. I live with my grandmother most of the year because my father works on a carrier. That's a really big war ship, sort of. When I was little I lived with foster-parents, because my mother is dead and back then I also thought my father was. But Harm " Chloe pointed at him on the first row "found him for me later when I visited Mac where she works in Washington.

Mac is my "big sister"…in a way. Well, she's not my blood sister but she adopted me in the big-sister program we were both in when I lived with foster-parents. " Chloe stared out at the fascinated faces of the people listening to her speak. When the other kids had been up there and told their stories there had at least been some murmuring in some places among the people listening, but not now. Her guess was that she had managed to do what her teacher had been talking about the last couple of weeks and saying that they needed to practise more often in the class, which was capturing the audience.

"I want to tell you a little about Mac, since she is a big part of my real family. Actually Mac is her nick-name, her real name is Sarah Mackenzie. She is a lawyer and a Marine, a pretty cool combination if you ask me." She smiled. " She works at JAG which stands for Judge Advocate General if I'm not mistaken, but I don't think I am. Her rank is Lieutenant Colonel which is a pretty high rank. She lives in an apartment in Washington and drives to work, she works a lot with Harm and they do all sorts of cool stuff together. I know they've been to Australia together and they have also flown in a plane that crashed into the wild and there they were hunted through the woods by poachers who wanted to kill them. "Chloe glanced down at Harm and noticed the laughter in his kind eyes.

"Well, the point with this was that we were supposed to write about our families and what they mean to us. It's hard for me to explain what Mac means to me in words. But she does mean a lot… a lot, a lot. I remember one time I was sick when I visited her in Washington, and she stayed by my bed for like two days and read to me.

When I have homework that my grandmother or dad can't help me with I can always call her and ask. And she the one I can talk to about everything that's going on in the middle of the night if I so wish. She is the best "Big-sister" a girl can have." She finished and let a tear escape.

Harm took Mac's hand and held it. Mac snuffled but only so she and Harm, sitting next to her could hear it even though the room was quiet. It stayed quiet until someone started clapping his hands and applause exploded in the room. Chloe looked down at Mac and took a bow for her audience and then stepped down.

To be continued


	16. Chapter 16

Title: If you leave, I will follow

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

Mac got up and took Chloe in her arms when she got down from the stage. "Honey, that was beautiful." She said with a tear in the corner of her eye. "Did you come up with that now?" she asked surprised.

Chloe shook her little head. "No, it was what I planned on writing all along. If I had taken the time to actually finish the paper it's what I would have said. Though I probably would have talked a bit longer about each member of my family." She grinned.

Mac smiled and sat down on her chair again. Chloe sat down on her lap to watch the other kids read their work to the audience. Harm kissed the girl on the top of her head and smiled at her so she'd know he had liked her performance too.

Another little boy in the class took his place on the stage and unfolded a piece of paper. He didn't look up until he had managed to unfold it. Then he raised his head and looked up. The first thirty seconds he didn't say a word and when he opened his mouth he quickly closed it again. Then he fainted.

Twenty minutes later all the children had calmed down. The parents on the other hand hadn't. Chloe sighed where she stood by the table with refreshments and grabbed an apple. She was getting hungry and they obviously weren't going to get some lunch within the hour. She noticed the apple hadn't been cleaned and was kind of dirty so she decided to wash it first. It would give her something to do. She exited the classroom and headed down the corridor for the bathrooms wondering if she was ever going to get out of the school building today. When she tried to open the door she found that it was locked. Someone was in there. She sighed and ran to the stairs instead to go down to the second floor where she figured the bathroom wouldn't be occupied.

She opened the door and entered the bathroom. When she had washed the apple she stood still for awhile looking out the bathroom window. The playground outside was empty. All the children were in class by now. She was about to turn around and leave when something outside caught her attention. On the other side of the street there was a bank visible. Everything seemed normal if you didn't look at the broken window and the four men wearing masks jumping out carrying machine guns and bags in their hands. Chloe felt like her heart almost stopped when she saw a woman on the street bump into one of the men. It was obvious that the woman started screaming so the man aimed his gun at her and shot her in the chest.

Chloe could hear the alarm sound from the bank and she could also hear a siren getting closer. A second later she could see a police car pull up down the street. So could the robbers and two of them started firing at the car while the other two started running to their escape car which was parked right next to the school fence. How ever as Chloe witnessed, they didn't make it to the car before another police vehicle came in full speed towards them from that direction. The bank-robbers then changed direction and headed into the school followed by the two others.

Chloe could actually hear the main door open and close and the four men running up the stairs. She wanted to cry but was too afraid to do anything but remain still and listen. The building was very quiet since all the children were in class and the teachers were either in the classrooms with them or drinking coffee in their office where they all assembled during their brakes. Chloe heard the men pass by the second floor where she was and continue up to the third floor. She exhaled and relaxed a bit since they were no longer that close to her. But then she remembered who they were a threat to now. Her classmates, teacher and Harm and Mac were up there. And all the parents.

To be continued soon


	17. Chapter 17

Title: If you leave, I will follow

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

Chloe opened the door and peaked out. She didn't see anyone at first until a door to a classroom opened and a teacher stuck her head out.

Chloe exited the bathroom and ran over to the teacher who she recognized as Mrs Teek. She was an older woman with glasses and grey hair.

"Mrs Teek! Mrs Teek! I saw them, they headed up to…"

The teacher's eyes grew wide and she grabbed Chloe's arm. "Chloe, what are you doing running around out here?" she asked not letting her go. "We heard gunshots not long ago from across the street. I want all children to stay with their teachers and classmates until we have notified the police. If it hasn't already been done."

Chloe pulled loose and opened her mouth to protest but Mrs Teek pushed her towards the stairs but then suddenly changed her mind and pushed her inside her classroom instead. "On second thought I don't want to risk that you go outside instead of go back to your classroom. You can stay in here with us for the time being." She stated determined.

"But Mrs Teek. The gunshots…" she tried to explain but in vain.

"Yes, I know you're afraid but don't worry. As long as we stay inside the school nothing can happen to you children." She pointed for Chloe to take a seat but she refused.

"Listen to me, Mrs Teek! The gunshots were fired by bank robbers. I saw them from the window!" she yelled so that not only the teacher but all the other kids in the room turned and stared at her. "And we're not safe in here because they are in the school right now! On the third floor!"

She could see how the fear appeared on Mrs Teek's face and how she came closer to panicking. "Oh my God! Alright children don't be afraid." The children didn't seem to know if Chloe was kidding or not yet so no one had tried to run so far. The teacher picked up the phone on her desk and called the headmaster's office to notify him that they had to evacuate. After that she told her class to walk out the door and out of the building. As soon as they had exited the classroom all the children started running but quietly and the corridor was full of kids who were leaving the building. The headmaster had called every classroom on the first and second floor and informed them of the situation and that they were supposed to leave as fast as possible.

Chloe knew how serious the situation was but she wasn't ready to leave no matter how afraid she was. Harm and Mac were still up there with no idea what was going on. She stood in the door with Mrs Teek who was making sure all her children left the classroom before she did.

"Mrs Teek, what will happen to the people upstairs? Have they been told about the robbers?" she asked.

"I don't think so. Now do as I say and go!" she pointed to the staircase and the exit. Chloe understood. No one was going to tell them what was going on and since the robbers hadn't come down yet they had probably taken her classmates, teacher, the parents and Harm and Mac hostages. They were the only ones on that floor. She ran towards the staircase but when she arrived she didn't go down as told, she went up instead. Everyone was so busy fleeing they didn't notice the little brunette sneaking away.

**_Inside the classroom on the third floor _**

The four robbers stood lined up before the people in the room with their weapons aimed at them. They still had their dark masks on. Harm and Mac were in the back of the room watching the robbers frighten the civilians. Lizzie's mother was so scared that she was shaking and squeezing her daughter's hand as hard as she could.

Harm got the impression that the tallest man was the leader of them. They didn't do anything without a glance at him first. He leaned towards Mac and spoke quietly in her left ear.

"Where is Chloe?"

Mac jumped a bit and looked around her in every direction. "I don't know. She was here a minute ago. Damn it." She whispered.

The tall man stepped forward and spoke up so that everyone in the room would hear him." We have taken you all as hostages until we can get out of here. If you do as we say no one will get hurt! If you do anything else we WILL shoot you!."

Harm frowned. He was certain he recognized the man's voice and suddenly it hit him. That was the voice of Petty Officer Thomas Miles who he had prosecuted once. He had sent the man who was standing threatening all the civilians in the room with a weapon in his hand to prison. Somehow that didn't give him a pleasant feeling right now. He moved away from Mac very carefully. He knew it was just a matter of time before the petty officer recognized him. But he might not recognize Mac because she hadn't been involved in his case at all. But if they stood together, even though she wasn't wearing her uniform at the time, he might remember her. So Harm moved away discretely.

Miles spotted the movement in the back of the room immediately and he pointed with his weapon in the air towards Harm above the other people's heads. "You there! Stand still!" He screamed. A woman got scared when the weapon was pointed right above her and screamed out. "Shut up, lady!" he yelled again but took his weapon down and kept it pointed at the floor instead. "Now you listen to me, all of you! I want everyone to sit down on the floor where we can see you. As soon as it's clear we'll be leaving this building." He turned to the man next to him. "You! Go look out the window in the corridor and see if it's clear."

The man nodded and disappeared out the door. Mac sat down on the floor next to Lizzie and her mother. Lizzie was really pale and looked as if she was about to faint any second. Harm sat down next to some other people over at the other end of the classroom. A woman moved a little to the left to make room for him to sit down next to her and while doing so she accidentally knocked down a pot from the table. Miles turned and stared at them and his eyes grew wild and he pointed with his hand at Harm.

"I know you! You're Harmon Rabb. The bastard who sent me to that hell place jail!" he started moving towards Harm with quick steps but stopped when the man who had been sent out returned to the room and locked the door behind him. "We have a big problem! This damn place is surrounded with squad cars and police officers! There is no way out!"

Petty Officer Miles tore his mask off in frustration. He didn't care anymore because if he knew Harm right he had already figured out who he was. He held his hand to his forehead and wiped the sweat away. Suddenly he continued over to Harm who had stood up again and pushed him into the center of the room.

"Don't worry. We have a way out." He grinned.

To e continued


	18. Chapter 18

Title: If you leave, I will follow

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

Chloe peeked out from under a table in the corridor on the third floor. "I have never been this afraid." She whispered to herself. "Okay I've never been in a situation like this before either. So maybe it's understandable."

She figured her current hiding place wasn't the safest place around so she got up and ran to the bathrooms. "I wonder how often bank robbers go to the bathroom anyway."

Entering the bathroom she immediately started searching for something she could use in case she needed to defend herself. There was a small pipe loose, sticking out of the wall under the sink. She grabbed it and put it in her pocket for safe keeping in case she needed it. She certainly hoped she wouldn't.

**Inside the classroom **

Harm kept still and ignored the Petty Officer's angry expression. He glanced over at Mac and gave her a determined look that said not to interfere. Luckily she got the message and kept quiet for the time being. But her gut had turned to ice because of the fear she felt.

Petty Officer Miles nodded and smiled as he shook Harm "Yeah that's right. This is our way out."

"What do you mean?" asked the other man confused.

"You see this guy's uniform? He is a navy lawyer. A JAG-officer as a matter of fact. And I ought to know because he sent me to jail."

Harm stared at the man in front of him with the blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. "Well, obviously I wasn't good enough since you're here."

Miles hit him hard with the back of his hand across the face and Harm jerked his head back a bit, then he turned his head towards Miles again defiantly. "I don't know what you mean by me being your way out of here, but it's not true, petty officer. Those people out there don't care about me. Hell, they don't even know I'm in here." Harm protested.

Miles smiled wickedly at his comment. "Trust me they will." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone and started dialling a number. He called the police station in the city and soon he was soon talking to the police officer in charge right outside the school building. He told him their demands; a helicopter to escape in and a million dollars, the sum of money they would have gotten away with had they not entered the school. He pointed out to the man in charge that he had a lieutenant Commander hostage and a school class with their parents and teacher.

"You have two hours to get what I want! You hear me!" he yelled and then hung up.

"They'll never do it, Petty Officer" Harm said in a convincing voice. "So why don't you just let everyone go?"

Miles was just about to speak when a little girl's voice was heard in the class room. Lizzie had stood up and raised her hand in the air like she would in class. Her mother was in too much of a shock to stop her. "Excuse me, Sir?" she said in a soft, shy voice. "But I need to go to the bathroom." She whined.

Petty Officer Miles just stared at her at first, too surprised to say anything. "Nobody leaves this room! Sit down and shut up!"

Lizzie frowned and started jumping up and down a bit. "I can't because I really need to go, Sir! Please!" she cried.

Miles sighed and tried to ignore her while Mac tried to get her to sit down and be quiet. But Lizzie refused and behaved almost hysterically. At last Miles just waved his hand at one of his men and told him to take the brat to the bathrooms but not lose her on the way.

Lizzie stared at the man with his mask and dark clothes with fear in her eyes. Mac looked at the girl's mother who didn't even seem to notice what was going on. She wanted to do something, like offer to go with her but then Miles might recognize her too. That would lead to even more trouble.

Lizzie was about to leave the room with the man when Miles pointed at another man and told him to leave the room and go watch the stairs so no one could come up. The two men and Lizzie exited quietly.

**Bathroom on third floor**

The man opened the door and shoved the girl roughly inside. "Make it quick. I'll be waiting here."

Lizzie entered and walked over to a booth and opened the door. Suddenly someone jumped out at her and she fell to the floor with the person sitting on top of her. She had kept her eyes closed but now slowly opened themand saw a familiarface above her. "Chloe! Oh my God! How did you get in here!"

Chloe put a hand over her mouth and silenced her friend who after that threw herself at her and hugged her. "I saw them coming from the window, warned Mrs Teek and then hid in here. I thought you were one of the bank robbers or something."

Lizzie let go of her friend and took a look around them. "Is there some way out of here? Maybe we should try to get out?"

Chloe shook her head no. "They might hurt someone else if you don't return. But I have an idea." She got up and grabbed the pipe she loosened earlier. She handed it to Lizzie "Here, hide this under your jacket and give it to Mac when you get back inside. She might be able to use it for something that might help."

Lizzie nodded and did as she said. "Okay, now…um …could you close the door?"

Chloe looked confused "So I can go to the bathroom, silly."

To be continued


End file.
